In my book “The Next Decade,” I spend a good deal of time considering the relation of the American Empire to the American Republic and the threat the empire poses to the republic. If there is a single point where these matters converge, it is in the constitutional requirement that Congress approve wars through a declaration of war and in the abandonment of this requirement since World War II. This is the point where the burdens and interests of the United States as a global empire collide with the principles and rights of the United States as a republic.

In Libya, Syria, and Yemen – but less so in Egypt – Islamists have opportunities significantly to expand their power. How well will the former Muslim inhabiting the White House,* so adamant about “mutual respect” in U.S. relations with Muslims, protect Western interests against this threat?

We can’t overstate the importance of the English translation of this film: the Iranian leaders are telling the Muslim world to prepare for the annihilation of Israel and the fall of the West. (Watch it exclusively at PJTV … Currently this movie is being distributed throughout the Basij and Revolutionary Guards’ bases. The producers are in the middle of translating it into Arabic, with the purpose of mass distribution throughout the Middle East. Their intention is to incite further uprisings, with the hopes of motivating Arabs to overthrow U.S.-backed governments.

Clearly, the military’s pursuit of a mandate through the referendum for its proposed transition is rooted in interests it wishes to protect in the new Egypt. Less clear is why the military is contributing to growing sectarian tension. Several weeks ago, army elements stormed two Coptic monasteries, for instance. They have also seemingly encouraged the proliferation of Salafist preachers in the media and beyond. Beyond this, the military continues to tolerate key National Democratic Party (NDP) regime symbols representing the party “old guard,” such as the head of the presidential diwan (chief of staff), Zakaria Azmy, who recently stated publicly that he continues “to go to his office every day.” At the same time, strengthening Islamist trends, including the Salafists, are allying themselves with the SMC, giving rise to theories of a web of complicity among the military, the old regime, and the Islamists. This very network governed Egypt for the past thirty-plus years.

Obama is not a neoconservative democratizer. When he talks about our values of human rights and democracy, he has in mind the progressive vision of a UN-dictated rights regime that constrains and encroaches upon national sovereignty, including our own. This is the portion of his policy goals in Libya (drawn from advisors like Power) that he does not explicitly spell out. It depends on doctrines like “responsibility to protect,” liable to future expansion and abuse by international bodies. Instead of going into all this, Obama merely highlights the “historic” UN resolution that enshrines the new doctrine, and speaks of his worry that a failure to act would have rendered the UN’s “writ” meaningless. There are immense problems with all of this, of course, both from the standpoint of American interests more conventionally defined, and from the standpoint of humanitarianism.

Presumably, the Brotherhood will make deals to get religious and social clauses it wants in exchange for compromises on things it doesn’t care about very much. Egypt, then, will take a big step closer to Islamism and an even bigger step toward being hostile to the United States and Israel, while moving into a virtual alliance with Hamas.

Why did Operation Cast Lead not establish a long-standing deterrent against rocket attacks on the south? Leaving aside the question of why the IDF was not ordered to complete the job and put an end to the rocket capability of Hamas in Gaza, there is good reason to believe that Hamas and the Islamic Jihad believe that in the wake of the Goldstone report and the wholesale condemnations of Cast Lead, the Israeli government would hesitate to undertake another ground operation in Gaza. And the rocket attacks can only be stopped by a ground operation. Are we seeing a failure of deterrence or are Hamas and the Islamic Jihad miscalculating?

One of the sad realities of many modern Arab societies is that Arab students have been denied history, their own and the world’s. For decades, millions of Arabs have lived under autocrats resentful of the legacy of the leader they replaced and fearful of the leader-to-come. Although Arabs revere the study, writing and teaching of history, and have produced many famous historians, their rulers often tend to view history as a threat. The result is that many historians in Arab countries are more like the court chroniclers of long-dead dynasties, and entire chapters of history have been expunged from the curricula that Arab governments teach their students.

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[…] to the American Declaration of War? In my book “The Next Decade,” I spend a … Continue reading → /* Source: Israel BlogsPublished: 1 April 2011Site: http://www.theaugeanstables.comSource by Date: […]

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Fatal Attraction: The shared antichrist of the Global Progressive Left and Jihad Richard Landes, Boston University, History Department From: The Case Against Academic Boycotts of Israel, edited by Read More »